Crossing Ties
by mustangkels
Summary: *~*CHAP 5 IS UP!!*~* This is about how Lily and James came to be. It is rated PG-13 for some swearing. Lily and James both like eachother, they just don't know that the other feels the same. A series of events bring them closer together.
1. The Invisibility Cloak

04/03/02  
  
1 Title goes here  
  
James looked down at the Maurder's Map and saw the whole school of Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry. Nothing really seemed to be going on there. He saw his friends, Sirius, Remus and Peter in the hall just a couple of feet away from the Gryffindor entrance, but where was Lily? This was their fifth year at Hogwarts and they had all been friends since the very beginning. They had also explored just about all the possibilities of the map that could been seen. James and his friends had made the map so that they could see others coming, and to know where they were going. It make things a lot easier when they were trying to sneak around in the middle of the night doing pranks.  
  
James scanned the map again and finally spotted her. Lily was coming out of one of the secret passageways. He felt a surge of warmth fill his body as he thought of her. He had always had a thing for her. Sirius and Remus knew, but never Peter. He was a bit of a loud mouth.  
  
James looked down the hall and headed towards the entrance of the secret passage that Lily was coming out of. Just then, he spotted her. "God, she is really beautiful," James thought to himself. Lily wasn't very tall, just a little shorter than James. She had a mane of red hair that seemed to flow down her shoulders. But it was the electric green eyes and light complexion that set it all off. It was what James like most about her. Those eyes seemed to peer right into his soul and read him.  
  
"Hey Lily!" James snapping out of his trance. Lily had just closed the passageway door.  
  
Lily jumped, dropping the packages in her arms, "Damn it James! You scared the crap out of me!" She said laughing. She bent down to puck up her things and James helped her. His hand grazed her and he took a sharp intake of breath. He then, trying to cover it up, sighed really loudly. "Good thing it was me instead of Filch or Snape," James said trying to cover up his embarrassment. Lily just laughed and nodded her head and she pick up the last of her packages. *WHEW* thought James. "Well, thanks for scaring me, and helping me pick these up." She said smiling. "Where are the other two?" Lily asked.  
  
"Oh, they are probably in the Common Room doing something stupid as usual." James said with a smirk.  
  
They headed back to the Common Room together when James remembered why he had intercepted her in the first place. "So, what were you doing? You gotta secret admirer or something?" James said playfully, but deep down, he really wanted to know what she was doing.  
  
"No," said Lily, " I wanted to puck up some things for future pranks. As well as some other things…."She said giving James a mystery smile.  
  
He smiled back and was getting ready to tease her about the "other things" when they ran into Sirius and Remus. They were both rolling on the floor laughing so hard, one of them was snorting loudly and the other wheezing. "What's going on?" James said getting caught up with the laughter.  
  
"We just—HAHAHA—we just—look --snort—down the hall." Sirius said snorting again and pointing to the hall around the corner.  
  
Lily and James give each other a quick comical look and go poke their heads around the corner. Immediately, the both burst into laughter. It was Snape and Malfoy trying to make their way to the hospital wing. It seemed that their Slytherin enemies had been stuck together wherever they touched. Snape had his hand on Malfoy's shoulder and the other on his chest. Malfoy had his hand on Snape's arm and his left leg to Snape's middle. James keeled over, he was laughing so hard. Lily leaned over his back and starting to cry she was laughing so hard. James' legs gave out and they landed in a heap on the ground. Snape and Malfoy turned around so quickly to see who else was laughing at them, they also fell to the ground. Snape's face was a deep shade of red, it was probably a mixture of being pissed and embarrassed. Malfoy was muttering under his breath as he tried to pull himself and Snape up. Through all of the confusion, Snape's right foot was no attached to Malfoy's left foot and when they stood up, it looked like a human Celtic knot. Lily glanced at the tangled Slytherin's and snorted loudly enough to start James, Sirius and Remus back into a laughing fit. Snape straightened up and stared at the four on the floor. He muttered something under his breath and yelled at Malfoy as they started to make their way, slowly, to the hospital wing.  
  
Lily, James, Sirius and Remus watched the pair go down the hall until they were out of sight. Not once, did they stop laughing. "Oh my…" Lily said still giggling. "How did you guys do that?" Sirius and Remus were struggling to get up off the floor still laughing a bit. "We did the "Glue Charm" gone wrong." Remus said as he slipped and fell back to the floor. Sirius leaned against the wall, his loud laughs ringing out into the hall. They all burst out laughing again.  
  
"You should have seen their faces when Snape patted Malfoy's shoulder and it wouldn't budge." Said Sirius. "Oh, I didn't know that their faces could turn so many colors." Sirius said laughing tiredly. The all finally got up off the floor, but couldn't manage to keep a few giggles from bursting out on the way to the Common Room.  
  
As they entered the Common Room, Lily noticed that it was very quite for a school night. "Man, my stomach hurts! That's the best laugh I've had in a long time." Lily said rubbing her stomach. Just then, Peter popped off the couch nearest to the entrance and looked a bit upset. "Where were you guys?" He said impatiently. "I've been waiting here for a half an hour for you guys. You said you'd straight up from dinner!" Peter whined.  
  
"Oh, Peter, you should have been there," Lily said hiding a laugh behind her hand. They recounted the whole story for Peter and bust into laughter all the way through. "I miss everything." Peter pouted and he plopped back down on the couch. James, Remus and Sirius sat down on another couch.  
  
"Oh," Lily said suddenly as she remembered the packages in her arms. "I'll be right back. I gotta put this away." She threw one of the packages at Sirius. "Those were for the next prank, bur I guess we won't need them for awhile." She said snorting again. The boys laughed as she sprinted out of the room to her dorm.  
  
Lily ran up the stairs, laughing the whole way as she remembered the scene of Malfoy and Snape. She got to her room, unlocked the door and went to her bed. She unwrapped the package from its dull brown wrappings and set it on the bed next to her. It was an Invisibility Cloak. She had looked all over for the last three years to find one worth buying. Lily picked up the silvery material and ran her hands through it. "James is going to love this." She thought aloud. His birthday was in two weeks and she was really excited to give it to him. He had mentioned an Invisibility Cloak to her during one of their many conversations they'd had. He had always wanted one. This one she had found through a wizard who used to work at the Ministry of Magic. After reassuring him that it wouldn't be used for dark reasons, he sold it to her. She was pretty sure that the old wizard had checked her background to make sure. Lily had nothing to worry about. She was the first witch in her family, and probably the only one. Her parents were just muggles and her sister was the biggest one of all. She hated anything to do with magic. "Just a non believer" Lily thought to herself and frowned. Lily shook her head, " I don't want to think about her right now." She put the cloak into a colorful bag that she had bewitched to say "Happy Birthday James" when opened. The front had also been bewitched to have a fireworks display start as soon as it was opened. After giving the gift one last look, she put the birthday present in her trunk for safekeeping. She then ran back down stairs to see what the boys were up to.  
  
*~*~*~Meanwhile*~*~*~  
  
"…that was so funny! I wish that I could have seen the whole prank!" James said chuckling.  
  
"Yeah," said Remus, "Where were you anyway?"  
  
"Oh, I had to talk to Professor McGonagall about the Qudditch match in two weeks. Then I ran into Lily coming out of the Hogsmeade passageway." James said. Sirius looked at Remus and then to Peter and whispered, "Or, were you just waiting for Lily?" Sirius gave a big smile to James.  
  
James looked over to Sirius and Remus, "Well…that too." He said and smiled sheepishly.  
  
"I knew it, but I just wanted conformation," said Remus smiling at James too. Peter noticed then that he wasn't included in the conversation. He ran over and sat on the floor into front of them. "Whatcha talking about? More pranks?" He said with a stupid smile.  
  
"He is always trying too hard," James thought to himself. "No, actually we were talking about my birthday in two weeks," He said, blushing a bit at his lie.  
  
"Yeah, what are we going to do for you birthday?" Sirius said giving James the evil eye.  
  
"Well, I don't know. We have a Qudditch match that Saturday against Slytherin," Remus paused thinking, " maybe throw a part in here?" Remus suggested.  
  
"I won't be able to come until later. I have to serve detention for that night I turned Snape half way into a goat." Sirius said way too seriously, that it made James and Remus laugh.  
  
"Don't worry, we will figure something out." Said James. "What did Lily bring you from Hogsmeade?" He said changing the subject.  
  
"Oh, you know, the usual. Dung Bombs, Ice Mice, Chocolate Frogs, Butterbeer and other pranking devices." Sirius said matter-of-factly. At the words of "Chocolate Frogs," Peter perked up. "Yeah, you can have some Peter." Sirius said knowing he loved those.  
  
"You're not going to share with me?" Lily said, almost scaring the boys out of their seats. "You know, I should start charging you for making those trips." She smiled casually. "Lucky for you this time, I had other things to get."  
  
"Oh yeah?" James said listening intently to her, "Like what else?"  
  
"Oh no you don't. None of you will find out until later." Lily said, "Even you Remus." Who was pretending to pout. She laughed out loud and then sat down between Remus and James on the already crowed couch.  
  
They all stayed up for a couple of more hours, never moving off the small couch. They talked about random things such as Malfoy and Snape stuck together, the next prank and Qudditch. Nothing was really mentioned about James' birthday, which was good, they might have asked her what she had gotten him. It would be way to obvious when she would have probably blushed at her own excitement. Peter was never much into the conversations, so he left and headed for the showers and then to bed.  
  
It seemed that the boys were talking all about Qudditch. Lily loved Qudditch, but she wasn't very good on a broomstick, but she loved to watch them all play. It was very thrilling to watch the team work together to win. She turned to listen to the boys talking, but instead she listened to her thoughts.  
  
Sirius was good looking with a dark complexion and black hair. He was quite tall too. He seemed to have the girls in troves around him, but he wasn't really interested. The other girls in her dorm were always asking about him, "What is he like? Is he sweet? Do you like him? Blah, blah…" Lily never really answered them, she just knew Sirius well enough that he wouldn't have gone for those girls. Sirius just wanted to mess around and have fun with his buddies, not be committed to some girl who would get mad at every prank. "He is really a big softie and a clown. Though, serious enough when he needs to be." Lily thought to herself. Just then, Remus interjected loudly in the conversation. Lily turned her attention to him. He was a very handsome guy. He had sandy blonde hair and soft grey eyes. He was always the gentleman of the bunch. Lily also knew the truth about him. The truth about how he disappeared for a couple of days when there was a full moon. He was a werewolf. (Peter is the only one who didn't know) She had seen Remus transform as he went under the Whomping Willow with his friends. She couldn't stand to hear him in pain, but he was Lily's first real friend there at Hogwarts. "He was the polite one, for the most part…"She thought to herself smiling. She decided that she better see what the boys were talking about now. She listened for a few minutes, nodding her head to something and then starting looking at James.  
  
James was talking very animatedly about the last Qudditch game against Ravenclaw. The muscles in his arms were flexing as he explained a flight pattern he'd used that match. James was skinny, but had some muscle. Lily could always pick him out of a crowd because of that messy black hair on his head. It didn't matter what he did to his hair, it would always looked like he just got out of bed. He had brown eyes that seem to melt into hers when she looked into them. She tired not to stare at them, but it was too late. "He has always been the nice one. Making sure the people in pranks don't get hurt or making sure his friends are okay in bad times." Lily thought warmly to herself. James' friends and family were so important to them, and he told them all the time just how important they were. For Lily, it actually made her feel important. Lily drifted in her thoughts about James. About what he would say to her at his birthday, about his gift, about her….she sighed loudly as she continued to stare at James.  
  
"What's the matter Lily?" James said, making a mental note that she had been staring at him for the last 4 and a half minutes. "Are we boring you?" he said smiling broadly at her.  
  
"What? Oh!" she flushed, "No, I'm just thinking about the Charms homework (breathing a breath of relief that she thought of an excuse) due in a couple of days." Lily said, trying to cover up the awkwardness.  
  
"Yes, but why smile about it? It's homework?" Remus said mockingly and giving her a little jab with his elbow.  
  
"Well, I like Charms. This week we have to charm an inanimate object to move. It'll be fun. I've been waiting for this lesson." Lily said quicker than she meant to, turning red. She also managed to give Remus a dirty glare for not elbowing her earlier.  
  
Remus, Sirius and James all look at each other mockingly and pretended to fall asleep at Lily's last comment. All of them were pretending to snore rather obnoxiously. "Well, I do like charms! It's my best class…it's so easy!" Lily yelled in protest. The boys woke up from their pretend slumber, looked at one another and fell into another mock sleep mode. Lily laughed and gave them a playful slap. They all woke up and laughed. Lily glanced at her watch, It read 12:30AM.  
  
"Oh wow." Lily said quietly shocked. "I'm going to bed. It's half past midnight." Lily yawned and stretched. She brushed James neck as she stretched. She didn't notice this, but James did. He seemed to freeze on the spot and all the hair on the back of his neck rose. The color in his checks also rose. Sirius spotted James and his reaction and hide a laugh in a yawn. James gave him a look that said, "Don't do it…I don't need an audience to make an ass out of myself."  
  
"Well boys, goodnight." She said half-smiling, half-yawning. She gave them all a hug. Going down the line, Remus first, then Sirius, and last, but not least, James. When she hugged him, she took in a deep breath. "God, he smells good. Just like, well, just like the wind." Lily thought as she pulled away from him. Embarrassed, she quickly said goodnight again and headed to her dorm. She better be more careful, she thought to herself. She got into her pajamas and jumped into bed. She remembered the hug that she gave James. He had hugged her back, and he seemed to be a bit reluctant to let her go. Or was that just her imagination? 


	2. Sterling Roses

4/6/02  
  
First of all, thanks for all your reviews. I really didn't think was anything special. I think that I am just a hopeless romantic! :c) Anyway, I will keep writing, no matter how many reviews I get. I love to write. (Especially romance!) It will probably be updated every two days or so…depending on time. I work and go to school soo…I will try my hardest for you all! Thanks again…keep reading…it gonna get good.  
  
3 Mustangkels  
  
P.S. Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, they belong to J.K. Rowling. I just like to have fun with the characters.  
  
  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Lily woke up the next morning to find the Hogwarts grounds covered in a blanket of snow. She pulled her blankets off her bed and went to go sit by the window. Sitting in the window sill, she looked around her room. None of her roommates were there. "They must be at breakfast already," Lily thought wrapping the blankets around her. She leaned against the window and stared outside. There she saw her friends, Sirius, Remus, Peter and…there was James. She watched how they all played in the snow, bewitching snowballs and chucking them at each other. She had to smile when all the snowballs seem to suddenly change course and head straight for Peter's head. Deciding to be a little mischievous, she opened up her window sill and grabbed a ball of snow. She bewitched it to follow James around (by the side of his face) and wait until he took a swipe at it for it to hit him. She sent the snowball down and it went right to its place beside James' face. James at first flinched when it came so quickly and then ducked…but the snowball followed him. Lily was still watching from her window sill was trying so hard to be quiet. She covered her mouth with her blanket and laughed into it. James was now trying to run away from the snowball from hell, but it stuck right with him. Suddenly, James made a swipe for it. The snowball seemed to have a mind of its own. It backed up, seemingly offended and dove right into his face. Lily burst out laughing and all the boys looked up to the window where she was sitting. James wiped the snow out of his eyes and shook a fist at her. "This—is –war!!" James shouted! He made for the front doors of Hogwarts and Lily continued to laugh loudly. "Hey, you better watch out Lily!" shouted Remus. "You know James is going to get you back for that, right?" Remus yelled laughing. "Yeah, I know…that is what is going to be the fun part, seeing him get away with anything!" Lily said a little too proudly. "I'll be down in a minute."  
  
Lily forgot that James had headed towards the front door. He was now watching her from her dorm room door. He had an evil "I'm gonna get you back" grin on his face. James quietly snuck into her room and hid behind her curtains on her bed. He muttered a couple of phrases and gave a flick of his wand. He laughed quietly, shaking as he thought of what this was going to do to her. He hid himself again, watched and waited.  
  
Lily said a few more words down to the boys in the snow and decided to go get dressed. She hopped off the window sill and then went to close the window. Her arm wouldn't move. She tried again, and again, the blanket wasn't moving. She tried her other arm, it too was tightly kept in her blanket. She let go of the blanket completely and it stayed on her. "Lily in a blanket." James said smiling airily from her bed. Lily turned around so fast, she fell over. She gave out a whimper and tried to get up. Yet, because her hands and arms were securely wrapped in her blanket, all she could do was roll over. James was starting to laugh loudly as he watched Lily roll all over the floor. Lily was panting, she was trying to reach her wand in her robes to try and get out of the blanket. James finally got up and went over to her. He picked her up off the floor and stood her up. Lily's faces was bright red, with angry or embarrassment, he didn't know. He smiled broadly at her, "You had enough?" he said looking her straight in the eye.  
  
Lily straightened up the best she could and look him sharply in the face. As their eyes met, "Yes, Mr. Potter…but don't even think that this is over." She said mischievously. James cocked one eyebrow, "Really? Maybe I will just leave you like this…" "You better not!!" Lily said between clenched teeth. James just smiled at her, but then something happened. He was starting to get a really close look at Lily Evans. Her hair was a bit messy, but that was just because she just got out of bed…and well, she had just been rolling on the floor. James smiled to himself as he stared at her even more. Her face was really beautiful. He could see the fire in her eyes, it was always there, but it seemed to be reeling now. He stared deep into them and before he realized what he was doing, he brushed a stray hair out of her face.  
  
Lily had been watching the expressions cross James' face. She was so angry with him at that moment; she didn't quite see how hard he was staring. She looked deep into those eyes and was startled. James was looking right at her, no, right into her. Lily froze as she stared deeply in those eyes. She could see something in those bright, green eyes. She stared harder and what she found shocked her. She had just seen herself in those eyes. At that very instant, James hand came up and brushed a loose hair off her cheek. She flinched, but never took her eyes off James. She leaned into his hand as it softly grazed her cheek. A funny feeling came over her. It had started at her toes and now had moved into her throat. It was a feeling that she knew that something was going to happen. It was going to be important and special. She could feel her skin tingling and her heart skipping beats.  
  
James' fingers lingered on her face for a few extra seconds than he had meant. What was he saying? He hadn't meant to touch her face at all. It was like his mind wasn't working, wasn't controlling his body. His heart was giving him all the guts he needed to do this with Lily. He felt Lily lean into his fingers as the crossed her cheek. That touch seemed to burn through him. It went through his fingertips, all the way to his toes. He wanted to touch her again. His heart was acting for him, never mind the brain, his heart would be calling the shots.  
  
"HEY! JAMES! LILY!" A shout came from outside the dorm doorway. James jumped and Lily was leaning so far forward, that she fell into James. Lily flushed immediately and James was trying to help her stand straight. "What are you guys doing? Can't figure out the counter curse?" Remus shouted just before he reached the door. It seemed that he was yelling on purpose, because on his heels, was Sirius…and Peter. Lily straightened herself out and her and James had stopped touching. For Lily, it was like someone had suddenly come in and blew out a candle. Lily started laughing, trying to cover a weird moment. James was fiddling with his wand, to flustered to say the counter curse right.  
  
Remus and Sirius busted out laughing at the sight of Lily wrapped tightly in her blanket. Peter came into the room with a puzzled expression on his face like, "what's so funny?" Remus saw James fumbling and did the counter curse. Lily's blanket fell to the floor.  
  
"That could kinda be a turn on." Sirius said looking at the blanket on the floor. "You'll have to teach me that one!" Sirius said raising his eyebrows to James and Remus.  
  
"Well, I just had to show her that I can fight back. Cause, you know, this is WAR!" yelled James trying to be macho. He smiled broadly and put his hands on his hips, like a superhero.  
  
Lily, now with her hands free, pointed at James. "You just wait Potter! I'll get you my pretty!" Lily said with a fake witch laugh. Remus and Sirius laughed.  
  
"Well, can we go down to breakfast now? I'm starving!" Peter said irritably since he was pretty much out of the loop on that one. "Yeah, let's go. Meet you down there Lily?" Remus said looking at Lily still in her pajamas.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute." Lily said shooing them out of the dorm room. She closed the door and turned around. She leaned and fell back on the door. She had a smile on her face.  
  
Peter had skipped ahead to go save them seats in the Great Hall. "What was that all about?" Sirius asked jabbing James' playfully in the ribs. "You were up there for like, 15 minutes. I KNOW it doesn't take that long to do a counter curse!" Sirius smiled as if he were silently asking for details. James didn't want to explain what he felt to 'the guys.' He wasn't quite sure of what they might think or say. "Well, we had a moment." James said carefully. "Nothing TOO special," he said seeing Sirius eyes bulge. "Just a moment. Our eyes caught and we were staring." James recounted the event in his head and smiled. "It might have turned into something else, but you guys came in." He said scowling playfully. Remus chuckled out loud, "I knew you guys had a thing for each other…I just couldn't bring myself to say it out loud." Remus smiled childishly and blinked his eyes a couple of times at James. James just smiled back and the entered the Great Hall. Peter had saved them some seats close to the teachers' table. He jumped out and down, waving his hands in the air to get their attention. Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed as they walked over. Just then, Lily came running in and sat down on the other side of the table. Still looking flushed, "Gosh, I am starving. Where's the food?" Lily said trying to cover an awkward second.  
  
For the rest of the day, Lily tried to act as normal as possible, but she couldn't remember how to act normal. With all those emotions running, she wasn't sure if she would come off as trying to hard or not at all. "I guess maybe I will talk to him about it." Lily thought to herself. It was just so hard seeing James, or sitting next to him or even joking with him and the others without looking right into his eyes. She was trying to see if she was still there, in his eyes.  
  
James on the other hand was acting like normal. It probably had something to do with being a boy. He, like Lily, didn't want things to be awkward, so he just went back to being normal. He never told anyone that when he saw Lily that his skin seemed to heat up. James could be 50 feet from her, and still feel that. Fortunately for James, he had to keep up with Qudditch practice, otherwise he would have cracked by now.  
  
The rest of the week went by rather quickly because the teachers must have felt it necessary to give loads of homework. This helped keep Lily and James away from the uncomfortable stage. It was also inching closer to James' birthday. Lily, Remus, Sirius and occasionally Peter, were planning his birthday party.  
  
James had just run off to Qudditch practice as the conversation started.  
  
"So, what are we going to do for Prong's birthday?" said Remus. They rarely used each others nicknames in fear that they would be a rise in suspicion about them. But, they were in the common room and not many others were in there.  
  
"Well, I was thinking of throwing a surprise party. Maybe in here or on the Qudditch pitch after the game." Sirius suggested. "What do you guys think?"  
  
"Well, I like the idea of the Qudditch pitch. We are going to have to run it by Dumbledore," said Remus thinking carefully.  
  
"Yeah, the pitch would be great, especially if Gryfinddor wins." Lily said, "Which I am sure that we will."  
  
"What about you Peter, any suggestions?" Sirius said as they all turned to look at Peter. Peter flinched and looked blankly at them. He had just stuffed 3 chocolate frogs in his mouth. There were wrappers all over the floor around him as he just shook his head in uncertainty. Lily shook her head at the sight of Peter, "what a pig…"she thought.  
  
"Anyway," Lily said breaking the silence, "I don't think that Dumbledore will have a problem with it. Plus, it will be better with just us there after the game and stuff." Lily said thinking quietly about James and being alone.  
  
"Yeah, I agree." Said Remus. "But what else can we do? What about decorations and stuff?" he asked the group.  
  
The group carried on for another hour, carefully planning the party. Peter had very little to say,(which was never really productive, just really silly) as was pretty much ignored by the rest. Lily had suggested putting a few pranks in there to even her score with James, but Sirius and Remus told her that she had to do that on her own time. As the hour passed, they had gotten many ideas on parchment (Peter actually had one good suggestion) and were getting ready to put it all away when James walked in. His hair was shiny from sweat and he was still wearing his Qudditch practice robes.  
  
"Hey, whatcha all doing?" James said wiping the hair out of his face.  
  
"Oh, nothing. Just talking." Sirius said lying badly.  
  
"Sure, right, whatever." James said talking sarcastically. He knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere when Sirius tried to lie to him. He just let it go. "I'm going to go change. Be right back." James shot up to the dorms to change and shower.  
  
"You know, it's been awhile and we haven't pulled another prank of Snappy and Muffy." Sirius pointed out. "So, what can we do to them now?"  
  
"Well, we did the charm where they stick to each other," Remus said thinking out loud, "what about one that repels?" Remus said with a loud laugh. "You know, from common things, like door knobs, quills…stuff like that?"  
  
The group seemed to take a moment to think about how funny it would be and then starting laughing and nodding their heads.  
  
"I think that would be a good one. They wouldn't be expecting that!" Lily said with a chuckle. "I want to be there for this one…the whole thing!!" Lily said pretending to pout. They spent the next two hours working on this prank. James had finally come down stairs about halfway through their brain storming session. He had been watching her from the top of the stairs for awhile, just to take her in. During the prank-pulling pow-wow, James and Lily would catch eyes. They would look for a few seconds, occasionally smile and wink. James could see the curiousness in her eyes. "Maybe she's been thinking about what we could be too…" his thoughts trailed off. He was snapped back to reality when they all burst out laughing at something they were plotting. He didn't know what it was, but got caught up in the laughter anyway.  
  
Lily on the other hand couldn't help but be drawn to his gazes. It was just something about the way he looked at her. Like she was something…important. One of the last times that she looked into his eyes before the decided to go to bed, she looked deep into his eyes. She saw herself there, but she wasn't alone. He was there too.  
  
"Wow, it's late again. I have an early class too." Peter whined. He got up and made his way noisily up the stairs as if he wanted others to follow.  
  
"Yeah, it is late and I didn't finish all my Transfiguration homework." Sirius said yawning. "I'll finish it in the morning." He stretched and headed for the stairs.  
  
Remus, looking very pale, "I better get some sleep too. I am going to have a rough night for the next two nights," Remus said wincing at the thought of a full moon.  
  
"Well, we will be there for Remus, right Padfoot?" James said smiling at Sirius and then to Remus. "Don'tcha worry, okay?" James yawned. "Let's go to bed or we are going to be hating it tomorrow."  
  
The three made their way up the stairs, Lily and James taking up the rear of the crowd. James looked at Lily out of the corner of his eye and saw her doing the same. The boys ahead were in deep conversation about something and James turned to Lily as they reached her dorm room. "Goodnight Lily." He said softly. "God, I want to kiss her." James thought to himself. Instead he grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze and left swiftly. Lily felt herself flush and she was so flustered that Sirius had to yell to get her attention. "Hey…HEY! HEY LILY!" Sirius shouted down the hall (waking everyone else up)  
  
"WHAT?" Lily said irritated.  
  
"Good night!" He said in a mockingly quiet tone. He laughed and Remus waved and they went into the boys' dorm. James turned and waved and disappeared into his room.  
  
Lily didn't move for a few minutes. Her mind was reeling. She gave a big sigh and heading into her dorm. She changed into her pajamas and opened up the curtains around her bed and gasped. There was a single Sterling rose lying on her pillow. It was a rare rose, but her favorite. It was a silver flower, even its leaves were silver and there were no thorns on this rose. She picked up the rose gently and breathed in deeply taking the sweet scent in. She stopped in mid-sniff… "Only two people know that I love this kind of rose…"Lily thought quickly. "And that's my parents!" She said aloud. 


	3. Scouts

5/7/02  
  
I am really sorry for the delay. So many things had to happen right now. But anyways, here is the third chapter after a bit of writer's block. I promise that I will keep writing, but please have patience with me! I know that it is a shorter chapter, but there were some key elements to be put in the story. Keep reading and review. Let me know if anything doesn't make sense. Thanks for all the reviews. :c)  
  
3 Mustangkels  
  
p.s. All characters, places, themes, etc belong to J.K. Rowling. I am just playing with the characters…making no money of course. Just having fun.  
  
  
  
It had been two days since Lily had found the rose on her bed. She still didn't know what to think about it. Even when her parents wrote back to say that they hadn't sent anything, it still puzzled her. She didn't know who had put them there. Lily thought that maybe one of the boys had overheard her talking to her parents, but she couldn't remember anything specific. Besides, she had other things to think about. James' birthday was coming up and she was still trying to put that all together. Dumbledore had given them the ok to have his party on the Qudditch pitch an hour after the game. That way it would give the fans time to leave and a bit of clean up too. She was excited about the party. So far, they had planned to stall James in the locker room until all the decorations could be set up. Early that week, Remus had gone into the kitchen and persuaded the elves to bring down some dinner (all of James' favorites) and a cake. Sirius had got some muggle fireworks that they could light off as he came out of the locker room. Lily had gotten some streamers that would hang in the air with the Wingardum Leviosa charm and Peter had gotten some candy to stuff the piñata, which surprised everyone. Peter had never really gotten involved in their plans for each other. Their biggest surprise was going to be the best though. Lily had gotten a projector from the Muggle Studies professor. They were going to talk about how each of them met James and their first impressions. Plus, anything personal they wanted to add. At the same time, they would use pictures that they had taken from over the years to explain it. Some of the pictures would be magically made since they didn't always take pictures, but that was part of the fun.  
  
"It only two days away!" Sirius said excitedly. Lily had been sitting in the common room going over her 'James party notes.'  
  
"Where are James and Remus?" Peter said entering the room. He seemed very annoyed and put his hands on hips.  
  
"They are with Professor Dumbledore. Doing some extra research for a project." Lily told Peter. It was like a secret password between them and Peter should have caught on. They all knew it was a full moon tonight. Poor Remus was already feeling the pains.  
  
"Well, they said that they were going to help me with my transfiguration project!" Peter whined. "Why didn't they come and get me?"  
  
"Well, I think that Dumbledore asked for them personally." Sirius said getting a bit annoyed. "Besides, you know that there is a full moon tonight…" Sirius said with a sigh.  
  
James had taken Remus to the Shrieking Shack for the full moon. Sirius and James took turns being with Remus when he turned into a werewolf. It was always better for him to have some company. Especially since Sirius and James could become animals. Peter had gone a couple of times, but because he could only change into a rat, he felt intimated by the large werewolf that Remus turned into. Even though, Remus had never hurt any of them while they were animals. If anyone was in human form though, he could hurt them. That is why their group was so close. They shared so many secrets together.  
  
Lily turned to Sirius and Peter, "So, are you guys ready for Saturday? It is only two more days away." Lily said excitedly. "Have you got your parts done for the slide show?" She said looking at Sirius and then more slowly at Peter.  
  
"Yeah, mine is almost finished." Sirius said. "I just have to get a couple of more really funny stories and I will be done."  
  
"Well, mine is going to be short," Peter said softly. "But I am done. I got about 5 pictures made up and some funny stories." Peter said with some sincerity.  
  
Lily looked at both of them and smiled. At least they were trying to make this a good party. She still couldn't wait. She returned to making her note about James and her stories about him. She was still working on the first impression one. "Everyone should get a kick out of this story." Lily thought to herself smiling.  
  
"What about you Miss Lily," Sirius said playfully. "Are you all done? You should be. I think that you have about 8 pages of notes there!" Sirius said point to the pile of papers in her lap.  
  
"Yeah, well, I have a lot to say!" Lily said in protest. She smiled and picked up all of her papers. She needed to come to a conclusion in her part of the slide show. If not, they may be all bored to tears! Besides, she still had James' gift to give and that would be exciting too. She couldn't wait.  
  
When dinner came around, the all decided to leave the comforts of the common room and head down to the Great Hall. The smell of the food was great as it was directing through the hall. It was late November and with all the snow on the ground, dinners had been made with foods to keep you warm. Hot soups, hot chocolate, steaming potatoes and many others that just made you warm and sleepy after dinner.  
  
They all sat down at the Gryffindor table and waited for the food to appear. Snape and Malfoy at the Slytherian table were staring at them with dagger eyes. Early that day, Sirius and Lily had put the repelling charm on them. It was hilarious. They couldn't get out of the potions room without someone opening the door for them. It was even funnier when they tired to pick up the quills to take notes and having the fly across the room. It was all that Lily and Sirius could do to not fall off their seats laughing. The potions professor hadn't found this funny at all either and that was half the fun. He yelled at Snape and Malfoy for throwing quills and other objects around his classroom. When he figured it out that they had no control of it, he sent them out of the room. (Of course, some had to open the door for them. They couldn't even so much as knock on a door without it leaning away from them.). Luckily, they didn't get into too much trouble. It had just been a lot of fun. Lily smiled to herself as she remembered it. "Too bad James and Remus couldn't be there today. They would have loved it!" Lily smiled to herself.  
  
Just then, the food came and they all started to eat. As the meal was coming to an end, Dumbledore stood up to give an announcement. "Hello students, teachers and all others of both living and non-living kind," He said with a twinkle in his eye. "This Saturday there is a Qudditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherian. All houses are encouraged to attend as this game will be a good one. There are also going to be scouts from professional Qudditch teams from all over the world watching our players." Dumbledore allowed for a few loud whispers of excitement go through the students before continuing. Lily and Sirius gawked at each other elatedly. He smiled and continued to talk, "They will be checking out all four of our teams to see if they can recruit someone to the professional level after school those students get out of school. Now, off to bed with you. Tomorrow is Thursday and I am sure that you all have homework or need sleep." Dumbledore smiled once again and sat back down until all the students left.  
  
"Wow!" Sirius said in awe, "James is going to have a kick ass party! Those scouts will most definitely be looking at him. He is great!" Sirius beamed about his best friend.  
  
"I know, what else could we ask for to make James' birthday great!" Lily said enthusiastically.  
  
Sirius and Lily talked about it all the way upstairs until they got into the common room. "Mysterious Lady" Lily told the fat lady in the portrait the password and she swung open to let them in. Peter had gone to bed early, leaving Lily and Sirius talking for hours in the common room alone.  
  
The conversation had remained neutral for an hour or so, but Sirius was dying to ask Lily one simple question. He wanted to ask her what she felt about James. Just like Remus, he knew that something was there, but neither of them (James or Lily) seemed to want to talk about it, especially to each other.  
  
There was a silence between them as it was getting late. The previous story had been hilarious and they had laughed themselves hoarse. "Well, it's now or never!" Sirius said to himself noticing Lily yawning and making a move to get up.  
  
"So, Lily, what kind of feelings do you have for James?" 


	4. Understandings

5/20/02  
  
Again, I am sorry for the wait, but stuff happens to put it lightly! Anyways, enjoy the story! Thanks for the reviews! And of course, sorry to leave with such a cliff hanger, but I just had to do it!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or places. They all belong to J.K. Rowling. I just like to have fun with them!  
  
On to the story!  
  
Lily sat on the couch, in mid-yawn. "Had Sirius just said what I thought he said?" Lily asked herself. She pulled her legs up onto the couch and looked at Sirius with a puzzled look on her face, "What?" She questioned.  
  
"You heard me," Sirius said giving Lily a strong stare. "What kind of feelings do you have for James?"  
  
Lily didn't know what to say. "Friendly ones? I don't know. What do you want me to say Sirius?" Lily said getting flustered. She didn't know if would be wise to tell James' best friend how she really felt. She knew that he was her friend too…but he was James' first.  
  
"I know that there is something there Lily!" Sirius laughing at her remark. "You can just tell. They way you guys act around each other."  
  
"Well, I like him if that is what you mean. He is a nice guy" Lily said plainly. "But nothing more than that." She fibbed.  
  
"Okay, Lily. You tell yourself that." Sirius said becoming impatient. 'Why doesn't she just admit it?' Sirius thought to himself. "I won't go running off and tell James if you do Lily." Sirius said. Lily just gave him a sideways glance and didn't speak. "It will stay between us." Sirius reassured Lily.  
  
Lily squirmed in her seat for a minute and looked at Sirius. She could see that he wouldn't tell anyone if she said she liked James. She just wasn't sure if she really did. There were times when she felt it. She could feel it start from her heart and work its way around her whole body, to the tips of her red hair. But other times, it was just James. Nothing extra special, just a really great friend, like the rest of them. While thinking about this, she felt her heart warm just at the thought of James. Maybe she did like him.  
  
"Well, to be honest Sirius," Lily started, "I'm not sure. I think that I do, but sometimes, I don't." Lily started to blush at what she was saying. "Do you know what I mean?"  
  
"Yeah, I do Lily." Sirius said seriously. "But let me tell you this. James will probably kill me, but I think he likes you too." Sirius said quickly. "I don't know for sure, but just remember how long I have known James." Said Sirius quietly.  
  
Lily looked Sirius straight in the eye. "You really think so Sirius?" Lily asked, she was beginning to doubt herself a little bit. "Because I just can't tell, well, can't tell all the time." Lily said. She did remember those few times when he would look into her eyes. She had seen what was in them. The time he had looked at her like he was going to kiss her. She would never forget them. She just wasn't sure that 'she' was what he really wanted.  
  
"Lily, I wouldn't have said so if I didn't think it." Sirius said playfully. "I wouldn't want to yank you around about it. You just need to decide for yourself, and then let James know." Sirius winked at her and smiled. He had seen them, how they got when they were around each other. If only he could find a way to trap the moment and show them. THEN, maybe they would see they were both crazy for each other. Sirius smiled at Lily who seemed in deep thought. He glanced at his watch and cringed. "Shit, Lily! It's almost 2am!" Sirius laughed as he patted Lily on the hand.  
  
Lily yawned again, still in deep thought. "Wow," She said coming out of her daze. "I got to get to bed!" Lily started to get up when Sirius stopped her.  
  
"Don't worry, this is between us. I promise." Sirius smiled at her. "And if you need anyone to talk to, well, here I am!" Sirius smiled at her.  
  
"Thanks Sirius. I really appreciate it." She gave Sirius a hug and started for her dorm. "Good night…and thanks." Lily said.  
  
"Good night Lily, and thanks for what?" Sirius said cocking an eye brow at her.  
  
"For making me look at things." Lily said with a smile. Sirius laughed at her and waved his goodnight. Lily continued to go up the stairs and into her room. Sirius smiled as she headed up into her room. As soon as she was out of sight, he headed for his own room.  
  
Lily entered her room and was getting ready for bed. She opened her bed curtains, only to find another Sterling rose waiting there for her. "Who was doing this?" She thought as picked up the rose and smelled it. They were beautiful; she would never get sick of them. She stood for a moment, and just looked at the flower before turning to her desk and putting it in the vase with the others. She crawled into bed and closed the curtains. The soft rustling noises and quite snores lulled her off to sleep where she saw James on the dream plain. She slept through the rest of the night with a smile of her face.  
  
The next morning, James came racing into the Great Hall for breakfast. He was so excited for tomorrow. It would be his birthday and he knew his friends were up to something. He could always tell by the way they almost seemed to ignore him when it got really close to the day. "I wonder what they are doing this year." James said to himself as he took a bite out of blue-berry muffin. He looked around at his friends sitting around him. He was right, they were all really quite. Sirius and Lily looked tired and so did Remus. It had been a long night for poor Remus. Of course, they had made it to the Shrieking Shack in plenty of time. Remus always came back completely tired because he was up all night. But he seemed to be doing well. He always bounced back from his full moon experience better if James or Sirius went with him. Just the comfort alone helped him relax.  
  
"So, after classes, you guys want to come out and watch the Qudditch practice? We are having a scrimmage against Ravenclaw." James blurted out at his tired friends.  
  
"Sure," Lily said as she rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"  
  
"It's at 4 o' clock." James said. "What about you guys?" He said looking at Sirius and Remus.  
  
"Well, sure, we'll come." Remus said looking at Sirius who was nodding his head. "I will be a little late. I have to go and check in with Dumbledore." James nodded his head.  
  
"That's cool. I just want to look sharp for those scouts tomorrow." James said taking another bite out of his muffin.  
  
"We think your ready Mr. Potter." Lily said to James. "Right Sirius?" She looked at Sirius for back-up.  
  
"Yeah, there probably here because of you!" Sirius said taking Lily's queue.  
  
James smiled at his friends. They were the greatest. He glimpsed at his watch. "Well, we better get going or we are going to be late for Care of Magical Creatures." James said wiping his hands. "I think they are going to be talking about hippogriffs. They might even have some this year!" James said excitedly getting up from his seat.  
  
They all trudged down to the grounds where the class was held. Peter had met them, waking up late as usual. James was right; they actually had Hippogriffs there that day. He was watching his friends as they all listened, and of course as Lily took notes. She always did.  
  
When they got to approach unusual beasts, James noticed how Sirius held Lily back for second. He was talking to her about something and she was blushing. "What is going on between those two?" James thought as he bowed to a silver Hippogriff. The Hippogriff snorted loudly and stomped his foot. James almost forgot. He wasn't looking the silver beast in the eye. He diverted his full attention to the Hippogriff making sure he wouldn't get attacked. Finally Lily and Sirius joined him. Sirius looked a little peeved and Lily was flushed. James made a mental note to ask Sirius what was going on between them. At that thought, James felt a pang of hurt. He frowned for a moment, only half listening to the professor talking about the history of Hippogriffs and their uses. He didn't think that Lily would be interested in Sirius. He had just never thought of that. "Maybe I should just say something to Lily." James thought as he glanced over at them. They were whispering to each other again and Lily was still blushing. Sirius covered a laugh and smiled at Lily before turning his attention to the professor. James watched as Lily looked down at her hands and then straight at him. James smiled and quickly turned away. James felt a little twinge of jealousy as he turned away. "Am I too late?" James thought to himself. 


	5. Birthdays

Again, I am sorry for the delay, went on vacation to Utah, and had some bad-ass writer's block. But here is the next chapter. Please read and review. And, you all know the drill…I don't own anything here…just the idea and not the characters, those belong to J.K. Rowling…so there. :c) Enjoy. Check out my other story too…it's cool. ;c)

3 Mustangkels -àThanks to all those who reviewed before…:c) you make me feel special!! 

08-01-02

Birthdays

"Today is the day!" James thought to himself. It was 6 o'clock in the morning and he was wide awake. He laid there in bed thinking of all the great possibilities that could be there for him today. "My friends are up to something for my birthday and of course, there are the Qudditch scouts." James thought, smiling to himself. He chuckled to himself, "today is going to be a great day." He sat up and looked at the closed curtains around his bed. They had been decorated. It seems that Sirius, Remus and Lily…well, even Peter, had made little birthday drawings for him and pinned them on the inside of his curtains. He took a couple of minutes to look at all the pictures and notes. Lily had drawn a silver flower and with a note she said, "_Thanks for being my friend and I hope and wish you the best birthday ever. And well…just thanks. Love, Lily" James smiled as he looked at the picture a little longer. _

            He pulled the pictures off his curtains and put them in a pile on his desk. He went through them again, laughing at Sirius picture of James flying on his broomstick, Remus' drawing of him being Prongs and Peter's…well, he wasn't sure what Peter's drawing was…but it was still nice he guessed. He jumped in the shower and then quickly got dressed. It seemed at that point, the other boys in his dorm weren't there. "Must have gone down to breakfast early," James thought to himself. He shrugged it off, thinking he would meet them in the Great Hall. James skipped out of his room humming, "Happy Birthday" to himself. When he entered the Great Hall, he looked around to find his friends, but they were no where to be found. He remembered that Sirius had  pretty much an all day detention, but what about the others? He looked at his watch and it said 8am. "Well, maybe since it is a Saturday, Lily must not be up yet…but what about Remus and Peter?" They couldn't have gone very far. James was a bit disappointed, but went down and got some breakfast at their usual table. 

~*~*~

Meanwhile

~*~*~

Lily, Sirius, and Remus were all on the Qudditch pitch setting up for James' birthday party. Their excitement was growing, even though they felt kinda bad for leaving James' alone for breakfast. Lily sat down after hanging a bit of streamer, "Maybe I should go in there, so he doesn't suspect we are up to something…" Lily said thinking out loud. She looked up at the other two boys to see what they thought. "Besides, James thinks you are in detention Sirius…and I don't know about your Remus, I mean you share the same dorm room…" Lily said making her argument. 

            "Well, I guess that we are just about done here." Remus said to Lily, "All we need to do is have the house-elves bring out some food just before the Qudditch match is over." Remus said looking towards the castle. "Oh, you know what? I gotta go and talk to Professor Dumbledore about making this invisible to James…you know, so we don't spoil the surprise!" Remus said. 

            "Well, I will stay here and make sure nothing happens to our beautiful decorations, "Sirius said gesturing towards the balloons, streamers, a table with a red and gold table cloth, covered in presents from his friends and family, a big birthday cake that had James' name flashing on it and floating Chinese lanterns. " Well," Lily said looking at their hard work. "I suppose we should spilt up anyway. I need to get our slide show stuff, bring it down here and set it up." Lily said stopping to remember where she put it all, "Besides, someone has to act normal…as I know you two don't!" Lily laughed and got up. "I will see you guys at lunch, how's that?" Lily said to the two boys. Remus and Sirius agreed. 

            Remus decided to go and talk to Dumbledore about invisibility of the birthday party to James, and Sirius thought it would be best if stayed and "guarded the party place." Which was just as well, he could keep curious people away and make sure nothing was stolen. Lily decided to go and have breakfast with James, and to keep him away from the Qudditch pitch until Remus found them (and assured them it was "gone.")

            Lily walked up to her room and got all of her slide show things together, she sat down on the bed, trying to think of anything she forgot. "Oh yeah…my present for James!" She said out loud.  Lily went to her trunk and pulled out the bright present. "He is going to love this!" Lily thought to herself. She pulled out a duffle bag and stuffed all the slide show pictures and equipment into it. She put James' present on top and zipped it up. She smiled to herself and threw the bag onto her bed. She would come back later while James was busy to take it down stairs. She gave herself a quick look in the mirror and checked everything over.  She brushed her long, red hair and put on a little make-up. She had been up since 5 am this morning; she could do with a little help. Satisfied with her looks, she went downstairs to meet James for breakfast. 

            Lily walked into the Great Hall and saw James sitting by himself at their usual table. The other tables were pretty full, talking about the Qudditch match, and of course, what happened with the scrimmage Friday. The practice went great and of course, the mighty lions had won. But, it was a very close match, but with James' being the seeker stole the game. He had caught the snitch after a half an hour with the rest of the team battling to keep the score up below. It was fun and it made Lily smile when he had flown by her and winked at her. Well, at least she thought it was for her, but she couldn't see James winking at Sirius. 

            "Hey! Lily! Over here!!" James yelled, catching Lily of guard. She collected her composure and went to go and sit by him. "Hey James, what's going on?" Lily said casually. She sat down next to him and pulled up a plate, grabbing a muffin and some pumpkin juice.

            "Well, today is going to be a good day." James announced to her smiling. He looked at Lily and smiled. "Why is that Mr. Potter?" Lily said taking a bite of her muffin.

            "Well, I'm sure you know, that first, today is my birthday," James smiled at Lily when he said this, "a great Qudditch game is coming up," he took another bite of his bacon, "And the Qudditch scouts are going to be here." James finished his sentence with a toothy smile at Lily. 

            "Well, Happy Birthday James. I hope that it is a good day for you!" Lily said meaning every word of it. Her eyes seemed to have an extra sparkle in them because James stopped and stared into them for a moment.

            "You are up to something," James said finally breaking his stare. "I just know it, between you and your sparkling green eyes." James said stopping to stare at her again.

            Lily wasn't sure what to think about this and she hesitated, "Well, what do you mean?" 

            "I am sure that we will all find out soon Lily my dear," James said as he squeezed Lily's arm. He put his fork and brought along some courage to say what he was going to say…

            "Lily, I kinda wanted to ask you something," James said looking down at the food on his plate.

            Lily felt the butterflies moving in her stomach, it was not much at first, but it was getting stronger. "Okay," Said Lily as she played with her own food. 

            "Well, there has been something different that I see in you and I wanted to know…." 

            "Hey guys!" Peter came in and sat down loudly. "Happy Birthday James!!" He smiled big at James and loudly started filling his plate with food. "Are you ready for today? It's gonna be great James…." Peter continued to talk, but Lily and James weren't listening. James sent Lily a pleading look and Lily looked at Peter annoyed. He didn't seem to notice, he just kept talking. "Well, I gotta go and talk to Professor Tweed about some extra Muggle Studies homework I am doing." Lily said interrupting Peter. "I will catch you later James?" She said with meaning, trying to let him know that she wanted to hear what he wanted to say. "Yeah, you are coming to the Qudditch game this afternoon right?" James asked. "I need her to be there today," James thought to himself. 

            "Oh yeah, don't you worry. If Sirius gets out of detention, we will all be there. Right Peter?" Lily said hoping to shut him up into not spoiling James' party plans. 

            "Okay, don't miss it. It's an important one!" James said trying to loosen the tension between them. 

            "Don't you worry. I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Lily said as she left the table and ran up to her dorm room. "What the hell was that all about?" Lily thought to herself. She felt face warm as she got to her room. "I hope that is what I think it is!" Lily smiled widely to herself. She gathered up her duffle bag and headed out to the side of the Qudditch pitch where the party was almost setup. "This is going to be great!!" Lily said out loud. On the way there, she ran into Remus who told her that Dumbledore had already put a charm on it, so James wouldn't realize that it was there. "This is just going to kick some major ass!" Remus said excitedly. "Let's get this finished before lunch. I am starving!" Remus said. Sirius, Remus and Lily continued to finish up the party scene. They even had time to do a dress rehearsal with the slide show. All three of them happy with what they had done, went to go meet James for lunch.

~*~*~*~

Later on that day…

~*~*~*~

            Lunch was over and James was getting antsy.  He hadn't eaten much during lunch, he was way too nervous. He usual got like this for a Qudditch match, but this one was different. This one could change his life.  Besides that, Lily was sitting next to him and he didn't know what to say to her. He had it all planned out this morning, but Peter had showed up and ruined the moment. "There has got to be another time today to talk to Lily," James thought, "maybe later on tonight, after the game…"

            "Earth to James….hey…hey…" Sirius prodded

            "HEY!" Sirius, Remus and Lily yelled at once to get James' attention

            "Hey what??!?" James said snapping out of deep thoughts. "Sorry, got a lot on my mind, with the Qudditch match and scouts and all…. _And Lily" his mind popped out. "I will be fine, honest!" James said out loud to his concerned friends. "__They are all giving me that look like, "Don't worry James, your not really going crazy!" James thought to himself. _

            "We just want you to have fun on your birthday Prongs ole boy!" Sirius said, "Besides, I don't know if they will let me come and see the match…since I am detention and all…"Sirius said sadly. "I will certainly give it my best though!" Sirius smiled at James and quietly winked to Lily and Remus sitting across from him. 

            "Well, I gotta go to the lockers and get ready. You guys gonna come soon?" James asked his friends looking for comfort.

            "Like I said, I wouldn't miss it!" Lily said smiling brightly at James, her emerald eyes twinkling again. 

            "I'll be there buddy!" Remus said. Peter raised his hand and pointed at Lily and Remus, then pointed back at himself and nodded. His mouth was full of food, and he couldn't talk. 

            "I think I gotcha there Peter," James said looking at his weirdo friend. "See you guys later!" With that, James got up, leaving his plate barely touched, and headed to the locker room, but his first stop wasn't going to be the locker room…

            "Gosh, he sure looked nervous." Sirius said looking where his friend had just left the Great Hall, "I hope he doesn't let those scouts bother him. I'm sure he will kick some ass, like he always does!" Sirius said about his best friend. 

            "Well," Lily said, getting up from her seat, "I am going to go and change for the match. It is going to be a bit cooler so I want to bring a sweater." Lily said smoothing out her clothes. "Besides, you guys need to go a little early and make sure everything is in order on the Qudditch pitch. Okay?" Lily asked her friends.

            "Sounds like a plan, Stan," Sirius said. "C'mon guys, lets go. Meet you out there Lily!" Sirius said and Remus and Peter followed him. "Meet you in the stands!" He shouted just before he left the room.

            Lily ran up stairs to change into something warmer and to make sure everything she needed was already on the pitch. She grabbed her green sweater and her robes and started to head out the door. She just happen to glance by her bed and saw another rose. She stopped in her tracks nearly falling over on account she stopped so fast. It was a Sterling Rose, but it wasn't silver. It was an emerald green and a little bit smaller than the other roses she had gotten. It looked as if the rose had been made from emeralds and polished to shine. She held it in her hands, expecting it to be cool, but held warmth. She didn't want to leave it, it made her smile. So, she put her robes on and stuck the rose in her pocket and headed for the Qudditch pitch.

((A/N: Who do you think it was??? Well, we will see next chapter!! Keep reading and review!! Also, on a quick note, I reposted this chapter…hoping to make it not so blocky…ff.net is being funny these days. I hope that it works and it reads better. Sorry for typos and stuff!!))

3 Mustangkels


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